The present invention relates to a container and methods for forming the container. Particularly, the present invention relates to a disposable and/or reusable container formed of plastic material and methods of forming the container.
Different types, styles, and constructions of containers have long been known and used in the past. Likewise, many different materials have been used in the manufacture of containers. For example, the common paper bag, comprised of four side walls, and a bottom wall formed from overlapping and glued flaps of paper, is a well-known construction eminently suitable for its purpose. Cardboard containers, such as boxes, are also quite common and have been provided in various configurations and constructions for a variety of purposes. Plastic containers, such as bottles for containing liquids or thin film plastic bags for disposing of trash, are likewise well known and variously constructed and used. Containers formed of plastic materials have significant advantages in comparison with prior paper or cardboard containers. For example, plastic containers are strong, resilient, long-lasting, and inert to most items disposed in the container. They are also suitable for containing and confining fluid materials. Additionally, plastic containers may be currently produced at extremely low cost and may therefore constitute throwaway or disposable items after use. Common plastic containers of the thin film type, however, have a significant disadvantages in comparison with paper or cardboard containers in that the latter are generally self-supporting or freestanding in their intended shape. On the other hand, containers formed of thin plastic film are generally not capable of assuming or maintaining a predetermined shape.
Further, in many environments, paper, cardboard and plastic bags are not suitable for use alone and must be used in conjunction with other containers or support structure. For example, it is common practice to provide a container formed of a self-supporting plastic material and then to line the container with a paper or plastic bag. Paper bag liners, of course, lack strength, resilience and the capacity to contain and confine liquid materials. Plastic bag liners, on the other hand, are easily punctured by the contents of the container. In certain applications, for example trash disposal, it is also necessary to lift the paper or plastic liner from the supporting container and replace it with a fresh paper or plastic bag liner. Paper or plastic bag liners frequently break or tear when lifted from a supporting container. Tearing is often caused by depositing material into a plastic liner and frequently, in the case of paper liners, by a weakening of the bag in the areas where fluid has been absorbed. Additionally, when such paper or plastic liners fail, the supporting container usually must be cleaned.
Additionally, thin film plastic bags or containers are well known and commonly used by themselves without any supporting structure. However, because these bags are not self-supporting or freestanding, great difficulty attends their filling in the absence of an ancillary support structure. For example, thin film plastic bags are commonly used for disposing of leaves. However, filling these bags with leaves or even maintaining the bag open for filling purposes is difficult because the bags will collapse absent a supporting structure. Thin film plastic bags thus do not have shape-retaining characteristics.